Heliconia bella in Panama (IMAGE)
Caption
Heliconia bella in Panama.
This species was discovered and named by John Kress, an emeritus curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and one of the authors of the new study.
Heliconia plants are famed for their flowers, which come in a variety of vivid hues, including intense yellows, fiery oranges and rosy reds. Their reproductive structures are composed of waxy, elongated leaves called bracts. Many Heliconia flowers resemble the striking plumage of birds-of-paradise. Others evoke lobster claws or toucan beaks.
Credit
John Kress
Usage Restrictions
News media use of the photos in relation to the study is only permitted with attribution.
License
Original content